Richmond board hears plans for expanded Preserve at Boulder Hills

Richmond board hears plans for expanded Preserve at Boulder Hills

The Richmond Elementary School cafeteria was a busy place Tuesday evening, July 10, as the Planning Board conducted a public hearing on the proposed expansion of The Preserve at Boulder Hills. | Jackie Turner, Special to The Sun.

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Paul Mihailides, standing, CEO of The Preserve at Boulder Hills, discusses site expansion issues with his engineering and subcontracting team members before the start of the Richmond Planning Board’s public hearing on Tuesday, July 10, at the Richmond Elementary School. | Jackie Turner, Special to The Sun.

Richmond Planning Board members turn to review a site plan presentation during a public hearing Tuesday evening, July 10, at Richmond Elementary School. The board heard a presentation from the developer. | Jackie Turner, Special to The Sun.

Local residents and concerned individuals gathered Tuesday evening, July 10, to voice opinions and ask questions relative to The Preserve at Boulder Hills site expansion plan. The meeting, conducted by the Richmond Planning Board, was held at the Richmond Elementary School. | Jackie Turner, special to The Sun.

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MTM Development Corporation site engineer Sergio Cherenzia, at the podium, highlighted accomodation options for The Preserve at Boulder Hills project. The proposed expansion was the main item of discussion before the Richmond Planning Board on Tuesday evening, July 10. | Jackie Turner, Special to The Sun.

July 11, 2018 01:43PM

By Cynthia Drummond, Sun staff writer

RICHMOND — Anticipating an overflow crowd, members of the Planning Board moved their Tuesday meeting to Richmond Elementary School so there would be sufficient room for everyone who wanted to attend.

The second item on the agenda of the public information meeting, the expansion of the Preserve at Boulder Hills development, was the the topic residents had come to learn about and discuss.

Jennifer Ansay lives in the area of the Preserve, on Old Switch Road. “I received a letter that there was a meeting here tonight to receive a little bit more information about exactly what’s going on and what they’re planning on doing,” she said. “I’m hoping to hear it straight from them instead of town rumors.”

Developer Paul Mihailides, CEO of The Preserve at Boulder Hills LLC, who is working with MTM Investment Group and property owners Stanislaw and Brenda Pukas, is seeking a special use permit for Phase 2 of the development.

The parcels in question, which comprise 752 acres, are located at 87 Kingstown Road, an unspecified address on Kingstown Road, 51 Old Switch Road, an unspecified address on Old Switch Road, and at Kenyon Hill Trail.

Purchased and extensively upgraded by Mihailides in 2013, the Preserve is located in a “planned development resort” or PDR zone. The all-inclusive, members-only sporting club currently consists of an 18-hole golf course, residences, a clubhouse, the country’s largest indoor shooting range, and several outbuildings.

Mihailides said his track record of successful projects should reassure residents. “We’re doing a lot for the community, we’re bringing a lot of tourists in,” he said. “People enjoy the businesses — the coffee shops, the lumber yards — they’re enjoying $500,000 to $600,000 a month in revenues as a result of what we’re doing here.”

Mihailides is now proposing to build a residential and commercial complex of 186 single-family and multifamily units, a gas station and convenience store, a day care, health club and gym, an equestrian center, two clubhouses, a helicopter landing pad, and “novelty” sleeping structures. Some of the land is almost directly across from the vacant Richmond Commons property,

The proposal is currently awaiting state wetlands permits and will also go before the Zoning Board. Testimony from the developer’s witnesses had not concluded by press time.